Transcript: Why I'm Doing This in My 40s, For the Woman I'll Be at 70
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Ashley explains that her fitness work at 41 is primarily motivated by her future self — she wants to carry her own groceries, protect her heart and mental health, and avoid depending on others at 70, 80, or 90.
The truth is, I'm not doing this for me right
now. I'm doing it for me later. What's up, my
movers and shakers? Famous Ashley Grant here.
Welcome to More Movement, Please, the podcast
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
more. So I want to talk about the fact that I
am doing all of this fitness stuff for future
Ashley. I'm doing it for the woman I'll be at
70, at 80, at 90, or however old the powers that
be deem me worthy to be. Every single day is
a gift. I mean, that's why they call it the present,
right? It's a funny statement, but it's also
so true. Every single movement that I am doing
here at 41 is not for right now, though it is
helping me a lot right now. I can't help but
think of the future version of myself who needs
to be stronger. All of the movements I'm doing
now are for the future version of myself. Because
at 70, 80, 90, whatever age I might get to, I
don't want to need someone to carry the groceries
in for me. I don't want to need someone to put
the groceries in my car. to help me lift things
or to make sure that I'm not gonna tip over and
break a hip or I don't even know what the possibilities
may be, but I don't want those to be my future.
And I also know I want to protect my heart health
and my emotional health, my mental health and
all those things. And so yes, everything I'm
doing right now for my fitness journey, yes,
it's absolutely helping me in the present. But
I'm also thinking about the future version of
myself that needs me to be doing these things
now so that I can be protected in the future.
Ashley frames movement as freedom and warns that neglecting your body now creates a debt the future version of you will have to pay — including her own experience being on blood pressure medication before age 40.
I want to be able to take care of myself. I mean,
I talked about this on the 4th of July. It's
freedom, man. It's the freedom that fitness brings
you. It's something that is so important to me.
And so the more I can move my body, the more
I feel like I'll be able to move my body in the
future. And so basically the whole point of today,
of what I'm saying today, is I want you to think
about the future version of yourself. Where are
you at right now and where do you want to be
in the future? Because if you're not thinking
about the future version of yourself, you're
doing yourself a disservice. Because the less
you take care of yourself now, the more you're
going to pay for it later. And so you're basically
putting together a debt that you might not be
able to pay. He might not be able to pay. And
I can't help but think about the fact that if
I didn't start moving, I was going to end up
on blood pressure medication. To be honest with
you guys, I was on blood pressure medication
for a minute there, and it scared the crap out
of me. I got off them really quickly. I was only
on them for, I'd say, about three or four months.
But the fact that I had to be on them at all
way before I was 40, that sucked. And I don't
want to have to be on pills. Like the idea of
having to subscribe to pharmaceuticals just to
live a normal life, I don't want that. Absolutely
not. So that's why it's that much more important
to me that I take care of myself as much as I
possibly can now so the future version of myself
Ashley speaks directly to listeners who haven't started yet, urging them to move today so they don't end up needing to be taken care of later.
isn't paying the debts that my younger self,
you know, gave me. So again, if you're listening
to this and you haven't started your fitness
journey and you feel like you should, I'm telling
you right now, my friend, you should. You absolutely
should. You need to start taking care of yourself.
You are the only one who can. And if you don't,
then you're basically asking to be the person
that has to be taken care of later. And I don't
know about you, but I don't want to have anybody
feel like they have to take care of me. I want
to be able to take care of myself. So if you
haven't moved today, move your body. That's what
I want for you. I want you to move your body
every single day. be able to take care of yourself,
make yourself stronger and healthier. Onwards
and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out
today?